Interview | Monty Kaplan

Interview

Monty Kaplan

I'm a photographer and former filmmaker from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

My photography deals mostly with the concept of change and transformation. I try to visually manifest the transformation i go through within myself by documenting the world around me in a very subjective way. And to achieve this, i manipulate light. Be it natural or artificial, light has an immense power to transmit emotions. It's not just that with the right lighting something can look better or more beautiful, but that the right use of light can transform the way we perceive things and therefore, the way they make us feel.

ABOUT MONTY KAPLAN

Favorite movie, book, or song?

Three for three: Taxi Driver, El Hombre Duplicado, Life on Mars

Favorite thing to do besides photography or design?

Surfin Tumblr

Favorite color?

Total tie between blue and red.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Used to think it would be Florence (Italy), but i’ve been to Milano recently, and i fell completely in love with it, so either of those gorgeous italian cities.

Favorite place to shoot?

Don’t have one. I can get inspired anywhere by anything.

Favorite app to use?

Not much of an app guy, I use Instagram as a need, but I do not like it.

ABOUT MONTY’S WORK

When and how did your journey as an artist begin?

Well it’s hard to say, i’ve had many different stages as an artists and used different disciplines to create and manifest myself. I used to be a filmmaker, but decided it wasn't for me, even though my work is still very much linked to that medium, and i often times still do the odd job as a film editor and/or director. Photography was always an interest of mine, as far back as i can recall. I always felt a connection to it, the idea of capturing a moment as opposed to creating one, was very intriguing for me when i was young. Also, I have a lot problems with communication. So i like to communicate through images. Throughout my life photography was a pretty big part of it in one way or another, but it wasn't until i was around 28 years old that i started to really take it seriously, as artistic work.

What camera(s) do you prefer to use?

I’m not a gear head. I think you can take a great picture with whatever camera you have in your hand. Right now i shoot with a Canons 5dS. Not sure when/if i’ll change it.

Could you describe a bit about the type of photography/design do you pursue?

I don’t pursue any specific type of it. In fact, i’m pretty against the idea of style being so tied up with repetition. I often see artists doing pretty much the same thing over and over again, taking the same kind of pictures with the same kind of lighting, using the same type of color palette of the same type of subject… And it’s not that this is wrong, it just rubs me the wrong way that it’s sort of the standard in the art world. I like to be eclectic and prolific and unfocused. I think not to have such a clear idea or one specific interest repeating itself ad infinitum is as valid of a style as any.

What inspired you to pursue photography/design?

I feel like i ended up preferring photography, because of it's immediacy. There's something truly amazing about being able to carry just the one simple tool with you, and create with such ease. Once you understand that anything at any time can be interesting and worth documenting, then you start appreciating the medium more each day.

I remember when i was a filmmaker, whenever i had a project brewing, it always had to go through some many hoops from idea to actual work on the idea. It involve so many people, it's exhausting.

I guess also a big reason why i prefer photography has a lot to do with the kind of person that i am. I'm very comfortable being alone, i really do enjoy it. I wouldn't say i'm a hermit, but i'm pretty damn close to being one.

What is your greatest source of inspiration?

Everything inspires me, constantly. Every single thing that happens to me is a source of inspiration in some way or another. Not a direct inspiration. But we are the sum of all the things that happen to us, the people we meet, the books we read, films we see, music we hear, places we go to. Everything is adding up all the time. It nurtures your mind, gives you new ways of looking at the world and that helps you create.